A Palatable Podcast

This year, I had the privilege to be invited to take part in season eight of TG Wolff’s Mysteries to Die For podcast series. As I’ve shared before, the podcast is made up of several mystery authors who write a short story to be presented by author TG Wolff and her son, Jack, who accompanies the readings with music and provides his own commentary on the plots. This is my fourth go-around over the past three seasons, and again, I decided to use it as a way to expand The Unde(a)feated Detective Series. “The Bounty Hunger” drops tomorrow!

As the name of the podcast series suggests, Mysteries to Die For typically features whodunnits that revolve around a murder. This year, however, the hosts decided to flip the script and theme this season “Anything but a Murder”. Considering that three of my four published mystery novels don’t concern a murder, this fit right in my wheelhouse…but it almost opened up too many possibilities. When I received the call for submissions during a road trip last summer, my mind spun through a number of ideas.

Given the episode would premiere after the release of Undercover Babymoon, the latest installment of The Unde(a)feated Detective Series, I chose to use the ending of the novel as an anchor to this story. I don’t want to give anything away for those who haven’t completed the novel, but of course, pregnant protagonist Minka has her baby following the Avery family’s escapades at sea. Having met a skilled, recently retired detective on-board the cruise ship, she recommends him as the Orlando Police Department’s interim detective while she’s on maternity leave.

Griffin Garrets spent his career as a narcotics detective in Newport News, Virginia. On the Averys’ undercover adventure, Griffin shows a natural instinct for sniffing out the truth…especially if it’s covered in delicious food. Based off of my very own foodie uncle, Griffin was one of my favorite parts of writing the book!

I’ve also had fun sculpting Robin, Minka’s bounty hunter brother. In my first drafts of the two sequels after he made his notorious debut in Brother of Interest, I didn’t have Robin appear very much in the storylines. Once I saw his impact on readers, though, I scattered him a bit more, even giving him a scene in last year’s “Marco! Mayhem!” podcast episode. He may drive his sister to her wits’ end, but his bounty hunts and unusual methods never disappoint.

Since I enjoy using these podcast episodes to have a lighter tone than my novels, I opted to combine these two entertaining characters and see how they could get along. With Griffin involved, I had to base it around food of some sort, and Robin needed a hefty reward at stake to give him motivation. Adding it all up, I came up with “The Bounty Hunger”!

Flavoring it with my love of France, I set the mystery around a fictitious French restaurant in Orlando called Créer Des Souvenirs—or Create Memories in English, which pays homage to one of my family’s inside jokes. Griffin and his wife, Janine, go there for a celebratory dinner to cap off the end of Griffin’s stint with OPD.

The eatery is owned by celebrity chef Pascal Roux, who hosts a competitive cooking show. The Garrets’ long-awaited evening out turns sour the instant they arrive, however, when they discover the famed chef limping out of the building, a victim of a robbery gone awry. As an avid fan of the chef, Griffin sets out to uncover the thief and is soon joined by Robin, out for the eighty-grand incentive Roux has offered whoever can unmask the crook.

With the thief stealing Chef Roux’s recipe for his world-renowned French apple tart, can Griffin and Robin bring this to a sweet conclusion? Or will their opposite dynamics make for a kitchen nightmare?